Computers and other microprocessor based systems and devices often include input/output (I/O) devices that communicate data to and/or from the host system or device. The transport protocol by which an I/O device communicates information may, at times, consume power without providing a functional benefit to the device. Some I/O bus protocols, for example, employ host-based polling of the I/O device to initiate data transfers and the polling may occur continuously and indefinitely, regardless of whether an exchange of data between the I/O device and the system is pending.